On the 24th July the world went crazy when Taylor Swift dropped her eighth studio album, folklore. The surprises, however, didn’t end there. The physical copy of the album (order here) comes with bonus track ‘the lakes’, which might be my favourite track on folklore.
Read more: Album Review: folklore // Taylor Swift
The melody is haunting, fitting perfectly with the indie vibe of the release. Think the gentle crackling of a radio on a warm day. ‘the lakes’ is extra special for UK Swifties as there are multiple mentions of the Lake District as she sings about the soothing nature of the “Windermere peaks”.
My favourite lyric comes from the bridge of the track “A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground / With no one around to tweet it”. The image of the red rose adds to the romantic nature of the track. Taylor makes a clear reference to her relationship with boyfriend Joe Alwyn when singing about enjoying the secluded environment of the Lake District. There is another reference in ‘invisible string’, with the lyrics: “Bold was the waitress on our three-year trip / Getting lunch down by the Lakes”.
‘the lakes’ is a great edition to folklore: romantic, haunting yet stunningly beautiful.
Words by Orla McAndrew
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